Allan Brown Fibre Workshop

In August I spent another inspiring day with Textile Artist Allan Brown, in his studio and garden in Brighton. Having previously learnt flax and nettle with him, this time we had a day focused on fibre. I spent the morning drop spinning the rest of my nettle fibre from our last workshop whilst Brown was working on oil cloth for a handmade tent.

Brown has bamboo growing in his garden and he generously gave me some for the tepee at Victorious Festival. We also visited his allotment where he grows more flax, dye plants and vegetables. The allotment was incredible, and it was so inspiring to see where he sources his food and textiles, all within a few miles of his home.

We picked some woad from the garden which is a plant that’s leaves create blue dye, we then chopped this up into pieces and boiled it in water. Woad makes a similar blue colour to indigo which I used to dye my nettle yarn that I had handspun in the morning. I was also able to see Brown’s collection of naturally dyed wools, from onion skins, madder and other plants grown in his allotment. I find it so incredible that Brown has all of these homegrown resources at his fingertips.

We had some inspiring conversations around value - about how people need to understand the process of weaving, dyeing, and spinning, in order to appreciate it as a craft. We observed that a lot of our connections with the earth and land have been lost, with our ancestors able to identify and use materials around them in ways that society today no longer can. By spending time connecting with nature and the land, such as through the use of allotments, mental health can certainly benefit positively.

Allan’s homegrown bamboo in his garden, some were used for the victorious tepee

woad growing in Allan’s allotment

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